7/20/07

those days.

So. Happy Friday.



I tried to make a cake today. Yes, make. And yes, tried. I would say "bake" except that the baking part was quite successful. It was the making that made the whole venture turn awry. And by "awry," I mean "really, really ugly." I managed to do everything right all up until it came time to actually take the layers out of the pans and ice them. Oh, buddy. I mean, really. How hard can it be? You flip the pans, and the layers float down in perfect wholeness. The very embodiment of light and fluffy, right? Not for Annie. The sweet-smelling layers of my spice-cake-to-be flopped uncertainly onto the cooling rack with an ominous lack of stability. By the time I was attempting to smear the icing around the top layer, it was way beyond unstable. It was a crumbling mass of comedic proportions; a colossal lump of cinnamon catastrophe; a distastrous experiment in destroying decadence. The crumbly remains of my baking extravaganza were too delicate for the icing so Katie suggested that I heat it in the microwave to try and get it to a more agreeable consistency. I did so, and succeeded not only in plastering up a few of the holes in my masterpiece, but also in nearly scorching my thumb off by trying to use my fingers in stead of my spatula.


All in all,
my cake kind of looks like this:


Nonetheless, I'm keeping it.
And, considering it tastes nothing like it looks, hopefully we won't have to look at it very long.


Anyway.
In other news,
most of everyone is either a] gone or b] going.

So, if you are neither of these things, we should be seeing each other this week.


Things I Desire in the Near Future:

1. Rest. Voraciously. I just can't seem to catch up on it. I think I unwittingly cram my days full of little things that lead to no time for the one big thing I actually need.

2. Soup&Socks. If you've never heard of this phenomenon, you should check it out, immediately. Basically, it's a lot of unbelievably wonderful young people who seek to "eradicate homelessness." Their mania for this cause is both contagious and unstoppable. I want to be a part.

3. Songwriting. Also voraciously. I think the tiredness has permeated my creative glands, though. I feel sleepy in my soul, and unable to produce newness until I allow myself to stop and breathe deeply.

4. Laughter. And someone I love to tell me that I've been taking myself too seriously. Again.


Other than this, I've got layers and layers of things on my mind. Like my cake, I'm feeling kinda crumbly. Unlike my cake, however, I get to put things back together, instead of existing to be torn apart.

Which is...a surprisingly unhappy way to think about food.


Well. Leave a comment. Let me know that you're alive. :)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

im alive. thats all.


no, im just kidding. i will leave u a real comment.
well, i have had an experience like ur cake one. i was backing brownies...it turned into a crumly mess like yours. it was just crazy...
well, um. i hope your finger is getting better and your sleeping patterns are getting back to normal.
i will c ya sunday, friend. :)

Love,
Jessie

Anonymous said...

You've been taking yourself too seriously...

I once joined in the Soup and Socks and i think it would be a good thing for you to do.
You're stll talented...even in the baking area.
Love you.

Michelle Renee said...

I have wanted to be a part of soup and socks for ages. but unfortunately, in the words of Annie, I am going.

going to Chicago, in fact! In a mere two days.

And the last time I tried to bake a cake, this is what happened:

http://i7.tinypic.com/6fzkait.jpg
(it won't let me put the picture in..)

We seem to have more and more in common, haha :)

but seriously, it was the most delicious thing ever.

love,
Michelle

Chelsea Mitchell said...

rest assured that you're not alone in your cake-crumbly-delicious-disasters...

cause, i made a cake for my friend, whose birthday was on earth day.. so i made two layers with icing that looked like a flat globe. and it was beautiful... until the bottom layer split in half and caused this massive earthquake...

it looked like the end times.
i gave it to my friend, wishing him a happy birthday, to which he replied "oh thank you, chelsea, it looks like a prophecy cake. right out of revelation."

however, it did taste quite amazing.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/
chelster211/Picture062.jpg (that was before the fault lines appeared)

Unknown said...

i don't know what's with the rest of you guys but I make a tasty and beautiful cake.

just thought I'd share that.

I'm alive too, but going...

Anonymous said...

I loved your spicy, crumbly, delicious cake! I love it when you bake. You put the music on high and I can feel your creativity soaring along with the smell of cake, biscuits or cookies! I think you inherited this gift from your Aunt Liza. She is the esteemed cookie maker in the family. When you are cooking, you are serving too, and I know that about you. I see your heart when you cook, and it is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

what's up with the crumbly thing? my cakes always do this thing where they crack down the middle, like an earthquake cracks dry land (well, at least how i've seen it on movies!) maybe this phenomenon should be called "cakequake." and maybe then it will be an art form and all the rage will be little children pulling on their barefoot mama's legs, begging for their very own "cakequake." :)

Anonymous said...

I'm alive.

I figured I should let you know. lol.
I stumbled along your nifty little blog in an attempt to find a picture of a mushroom cloud. I must say, the picture you have there is quite a way to describe a cake, but anyways. I enjoyed reading your little blog, by the way. It, for the most part, brightened up my mood. Not because you've crumbled an amazing sounding cake, but because you sound like a spirited girl.
Enough of my ramblings. I hope your sleeping has improved, your song writing has taken a glorious turn,your Soup & Socks experience was joyful, and I hope I've brought laughter to this moment for you. I'm afraid you don't love me, not to mention, you don't know me, but, you need to take yourself less seriously, everyone does my dear.
Have a good one =]

Sincerely, your new comment friend...
Jilli Anne